


Bruise-Watch

by friendofspiderman



Series: Fictober 2020 [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Bruises, Canon Compliant, Ficlet, Fictober, Friendship, Gen, Good Friend Ned Leeds, Hurt Peter Parker, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Peter Parker is a Mess, Protective Ned Leeds, Spider-Man: Homecoming Compliant, Worried Ned Leeds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:02:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26984101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/friendofspiderman/pseuds/friendofspiderman
Summary: Fictober Prompt #9 - "will you look at this?"---Ned learns that the superhero life isn't all sunshine and roses.
Relationships: Ned Leeds & Peter Parker
Series: Fictober 2020 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1953223
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	Bruise-Watch

“Hey, Ned, will you look at this?”

Ned hears the summons and enters Peter’s bedroom where his best friend stands, the top half of the spidey suit hanging from his waist.

“What am I looking at?”

“My back, something happened on patrol and I wanna know what the damage is.”

Ned looks and fails to suppress a gasp. An impressive bruise has formed on Peter’s upper right back, black and blue and purple all over and swollen to the size of a softball.

“What the hell, Peter—what happened??”

“Nothing, I just—I slammed into a corner of a building while swinging, which I do a lot, but it must’ve been a bad combination of force against the angle—why, does it look really bad??”

He delivers the question with too much enthusiasm for Ned’s taste, as if the thought of a gnarly injury makes him giddy.

“It looks terrible, it’s the biggest bruise I’ve ever seen—”

“Take a picture!” Peter holds out his phone excitedly. “I wanna see it!”

Ned beholds his friend with a mixture of awe and disbelief, taking shots from a few angles obligingly.

“This really does look bad, man, here—” he passes the phone back— “I’m gonna go get some ice.”

He heads to the kitchen, shaking his head at Peter’s exuberant exclamations in the background as he rummages through the freezer. His friend’s eagerness to document “the damage” makes Ned sick to his stomach, but he figures he’ll have to get used to injuries if he’s going to convince Peter to let him be his Guy in the Chair.

“Ned, this is _insane_!” Peter says as Ned reappears with a bag of peas wrapped in a dish towel. “I think it might be the best one yet.”

“ _Best_?” He’s horrified to find that Peter is scrolling through several photos of different bruises on his phone. “Don’t you mean _worst_?”

“It’s the biggest and most colorful,” Peter says, receiving the peas only to deposit them onto his bed, “which makes it the best. I’m curious to see how long it’ll take to go away, because my powers make me heal way faster now.”

This piques Ned’s interest. “Dude, _really?_ Like super-healing? How much faster does it work?”

“Dunno exactly,” Peter says, “I’d have to compare it with a normal person’s bruise-recovery. But I’ve been trying to keep track of my bruises’ daily progress since Spider-Man.” He gestures to his phone as he scrolls through. “You know, for science.”

“That’s insane.” Ned shakes his head. “So does your super-strength and healing and stuff make everything less painful, too?” He pokes the bruise as he asks and figures Peter’s wincing has already given him the answer.

“Nah, stuff still hurts like hell.” Peter shrugs. “But I’m kinda used to getting hurt now. And I’ll just sleep on my stomach til this feels better.”

“You’re sure it’s just a bruise, though?”

“Yeah, if it was something worse, I’m pretty sure I’d be able to feel that. I feel things…more intensely now. My senses are all stronger.”

“Wow.” Is all Ned can say. Peter turns off his phone and looks away, and Ned gets the sense he doesn’t want to talk much more about the bleaker parts of the superhero gig.

Ned’s still mildly horrified by Peter’s overall nonchalance, but a morbid curiosity is quickly replacing that horror.

“So…” he says, “how can I get in on bruise-watch? Can I get text-updates or something? For science?”

Peter grins. “Consider yourself subscribed.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! <3


End file.
